Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann
Encyclopedia
Anna Maria Elisabeth Lisinska Jerichau-Baumann (born November 21, 1819 - died July 11, 1881 in Copenhagen
) was a Polish
-born Danish
painter. She was married to the sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau
.
(Jolibord) a borough
of Warsaw
. Her father Philip Adolph Baumann (1776–1863), a mapmaker, and her mother, Johanne Frederikke Reyer (1790–1854), were German.
At the age of nineteen, she began her studies in Düsseldorf
which at the time was one of the most important art centres in Europe and her early subject matter was drawn from Slovak
life. She began exhibiting there and in 1844 attracted public attention for the first time. After she moved to Rome, her paintings were primarily of local life. It was here that she met her future husband, Jens Adolf Jerichau
, whom she married in 1846. When the artist couple was not travelling, she spent many hours a day in their studio in Rome. She was particularly fond of the Italian carnival as a theme.
in 1849 where her husband became a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Elisabeth was not well received by the Danish art world which was preoccupied at the time with preserving a Danish artistic identity based in the Danish Golden Age
of art and the legacy of C.W. Eckersberg
. She was not intimidated, however, and tried to find subjects that would appeal to the Danish public. Even though her painting Danmark (1851) became well-known, she had more success with painting portraits of important Danes and did several of Queen Louise of Denmark
(1817–1898) and her daughters who kept up a correspondence with her. Yet in spite of this royal patronage, the Danish art world remained cool toward her and the Toyal Painting Collection which eventually turned into the Danish National Gallery
bought and exhibited only one of her paintings, A wounded Danish soldier.
In 1858 she was awarded the Academy's Jubilee Medal
though and became a member in 1861.
She had great success abroad, however, and had a special following in France where she was twice represented at the World Fair in Paris, first in 1867
and again in 1878
. In 1852 she exhibited some of her paintings in London, and Queen Victoria requested a private presentation in Buckingham Palace
. Among the portraits presented to the Queen was her painting of Hans Christian Andersen
, completed in 1850.
s of the Ottoman Empire
and as a result was able to paint scenes of harem life from personal observation in contrast to most artists of the time whose work on this popular subject was entirely derived from the imagination or other artists in the same position as themselves. Nevertheless, as Roberts points out, she had to curb her desire to paint the women of the harems as Europeans liked to imagine them because they insisted on being painted in the latest Paris fashions.
In 1869, she was admitted into the harem of Mustafa Fazil Paşa. She was able to gain entry because of her royal patronage in Denmark and brought with her a letter of introduction from Princess Alexandra of Denmark
by then the Princess of Wales
. The princess had accompanied her husband (the future Edward VII) on a grand tour which included the Ottoman Empire, earlier that year, and therefore had great influence. But the fact that Mustafa was a liberal in favour of a Western style constitutional government and was a vocal proponent of modernization played an important part in her being granted entry. She was entranced by Mustafa Paşa's daughter Nazlı and wrote home to her husband and children, 'Yesterday I fell in love with a beautiful Turkish Princess'.
Local/global: Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century edited by Deborah Cherry and Janice Helland, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. (2006) ISBN 0754631974
Her work from this period is sometimes decorative and frequently sentimental but with a fine sense of colour and lighting. The sensualism in some of these paintings was still considered taboo in some parts of Europe and the Danish art world tried to keep these works out of sight. Until recently, her paintings were kept in museum storerooms in Denmark. The erotic quality in many of her husband's statues may have helped her to disregard this provincialism in spite of the obvious social risks to a woman at the time.
painters.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
) was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
-born Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
painter. She was married to the sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau
Jens Adolf Jerichau
Emil Jens Baumann Adolf Jerichau was a Danish sculptor. He belonged to the generation immediately after Bertel Thorvaldsen, for whom he worked briefly in Tome, but gradually moved away from the static Neoclassicism he inherited from him and towards a more dynamic and realistic style.He was a...
.
Early life and career
Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann was born in ZoliborzZoliborz
Żoliborz is one of the northern districts of the city of Warsaw. It is located directly to the north of the City Centre, on the left bank of the Vistula river. It has approximately 50,000 inhabitants and is one of the smallest boroughs of Warsaw....
(Jolibord) a borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. Her father Philip Adolph Baumann (1776–1863), a mapmaker, and her mother, Johanne Frederikke Reyer (1790–1854), were German.
At the age of nineteen, she began her studies in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
which at the time was one of the most important art centres in Europe and her early subject matter was drawn from Slovak
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
life. She began exhibiting there and in 1844 attracted public attention for the first time. After she moved to Rome, her paintings were primarily of local life. It was here that she met her future husband, Jens Adolf Jerichau
Jens Adolf Jerichau
Emil Jens Baumann Adolf Jerichau was a Danish sculptor. He belonged to the generation immediately after Bertel Thorvaldsen, for whom he worked briefly in Tome, but gradually moved away from the static Neoclassicism he inherited from him and towards a more dynamic and realistic style.He was a...
, whom she married in 1846. When the artist couple was not travelling, she spent many hours a day in their studio in Rome. She was particularly fond of the Italian carnival as a theme.
Life in Denmark
The couple moved to CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1849 where her husband became a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Elisabeth was not well received by the Danish art world which was preoccupied at the time with preserving a Danish artistic identity based in the Danish Golden Age
Golden Age of Danish Painting
The Danish Golden Age covers the period of creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century. Although Copenhagen had suffered from fires, bombardment and national bankruptcy, the arts took on a new period of creativity catalysed by Romanticism from Germany...
of art and the legacy of C.W. Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Duchy of Schleswig , to Henrik Vilhelm Eckersberg, painter and carpenter, and Ingeborg Nielsdatter...
. She was not intimidated, however, and tried to find subjects that would appeal to the Danish public. Even though her painting Danmark (1851) became well-known, she had more success with painting portraits of important Danes and did several of Queen Louise of Denmark
Louise of Hesse-Kassel
Louise of Hesse was a German Princess and the queen consort to King Christian IX of Denmark.-Early Life and Ancestry:...
(1817–1898) and her daughters who kept up a correspondence with her. Yet in spite of this royal patronage, the Danish art world remained cool toward her and the Toyal Painting Collection which eventually turned into the Danish National Gallery
Statens Museum for Kunst
Statens Museum for Kunst is the Danish national gallery located in Copenhagen....
bought and exhibited only one of her paintings, A wounded Danish soldier.
In 1858 she was awarded the Academy's Jubilee Medal
Eckersberg Medal
The Eckersberg Medal is an annual award of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts...
though and became a member in 1861.
Success abroad
Exposition Universelle (1867)
The Exposition Universelle of 1867 was a World Exposition held in Paris, France, in 1867.-Conception:In 1864, Emperor Napoleon III decreed that an international exposition should be held in Paris in 1867. A commission was appointed with Prince Jerome Napoleon as president, under whose direction...
and again in 1878
Exposition Universelle (1878)
The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May through to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.-Construction:...
. In 1852 she exhibited some of her paintings in London, and Queen Victoria requested a private presentation in Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. Among the portraits presented to the Queen was her painting of Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
, completed in 1850.
The harems of the Ottoman Empire
In 1869-1870 Elisabeth traveled extensively in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle-East, and again in 1874-1875 accompanied by her son Harald. She was able to gain access to the haremHarem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
s of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and as a result was able to paint scenes of harem life from personal observation in contrast to most artists of the time whose work on this popular subject was entirely derived from the imagination or other artists in the same position as themselves. Nevertheless, as Roberts points out, she had to curb her desire to paint the women of the harems as Europeans liked to imagine them because they insisted on being painted in the latest Paris fashions.
In 1869, she was admitted into the harem of Mustafa Fazil Paşa. She was able to gain entry because of her royal patronage in Denmark and brought with her a letter of introduction from Princess Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
by then the Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
. The princess had accompanied her husband (the future Edward VII) on a grand tour which included the Ottoman Empire, earlier that year, and therefore had great influence. But the fact that Mustafa was a liberal in favour of a Western style constitutional government and was a vocal proponent of modernization played an important part in her being granted entry. She was entranced by Mustafa Paşa's daughter Nazlı and wrote home to her husband and children, 'Yesterday I fell in love with a beautiful Turkish Princess'.
Local/global: Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century edited by Deborah Cherry and Janice Helland, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. (2006) ISBN 0754631974
Her work from this period is sometimes decorative and frequently sentimental but with a fine sense of colour and lighting. The sensualism in some of these paintings was still considered taboo in some parts of Europe and the Danish art world tried to keep these works out of sight. Until recently, her paintings were kept in museum storerooms in Denmark. The erotic quality in many of her husband's statues may have helped her to disregard this provincialism in spite of the obvious social risks to a woman at the time.
A family of artists
The Jerichaus had nine children, two of whom died in infancy. Of the rest, several became accomplished painters including Harald Jerichau (1851–1878), who died of malaria and typhoid soon after his trip to the Middle-East with his mother, and Holger Hvitfeldt Jerichau (1861–1900) who painted primarily impressionistic landscapes. His work earned the favour of the Russian Royal Family whose patronage helped him finance his foreign travels. He was called "a true visionary and talented artist" by the art critics of the time and had many successful exhibitions but like his older brother died young at age 41. One of his paintings sold for over twelve thousand dollars in 1991. She has several other descendants who are artists and her grandson J.A. Jerichau (1891–1916) was one of Denmark's most talented modernistModernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
painters.
Children
- Thorald Harald Adolph Carol Lorentz (1848)
- Marie (1850)
- Harald (1851)
- Caroline Elisabeth Nanny (1853)
- Louise (1859)
- Sophie Dagmar Elisabeth (1859)
- Holger Hvitfeldt (1861)
Drawings
- Portrait of Jenny Lind (1845), 19x21.5 Pencil
- A child, 'Titi' (1856), Gouache/paper
- An Angel (1857) Watercolour, pencil/paper
- Damenportrait (1859) 19x13 Ink
- Portraet af egyptisk kvinde (1870), Drawing
- Höjtlaesning ved sygelejet (1878), 11.5x19 Ink
- Höjtlaesning ved sygelejet (1878), 11.5x19 Ink/paper
- Havfrue 21x31, Pencil/paper
- Adam og Eva 32x21, Pencil/paper
- Dameportraet, Pencil/paper
- Portraet af Johanne-Luise Heiberg, 8x6Ink, pen
- Lille dreng med bog, 31x21 Pencil/paper
Written works
Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann wrote two books about her life:- Ungdomserindringer (Youthful Memories) (1874)
- Brogede rejsebilleder (Motley Travel Pictures), Copenhagen (1881)